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My plea: Mr. Obama, tear up that check

Bruce BensonColumnist

Published: Saturday, August 24, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, August 21, 2013 at 6:32 p.m.

Egypt is exploding. More than a thousand people have been killed and thousands imprisoned in past weeks, and now it seems, ironically, that former strongman Hosni Mubarek, who ruled the country for 30 years, will be released from prison.

My heart weeps for the Egyptian people, as I have spent a lot of time there and have many, many Egyptian friends.

I remember a young boy named Mustafa helping me pick up trash, his smile wide enough to break your heart. The revolution was only a few months old, and he was celebrating being in a newly freed country by cleaning it up.

The North African Youth for Peace Conference was across the street, and upon seeing the two of us, I was asked to speak at the conference. I relished the idea of speaking to these bright young people from all over North Africa. They were determined to set their respective countries on a course of peace and democracy. And they were very optimistic.

The next day, two young children, a boy and a girl about 5 years old, helped me in my work. When we were finished, I asked them their names. “Ahmed,” said the boy. But I couldn’t hear what the girl said, so I leaned forward and asked again, tilting my right ear toward her so I could hear better. She quickly sprang up and kissed me on the cheek and then ran away. A woman in a nearby car, witness to the scene, laughed at the surprised look on my face. That kiss is one of my most cherished memories.

I was invited to go to Tahrir Square for a demonstration and was afraid to go. I was a foreigner, and mere months before thousands of people were killed there. Would I be killed?

When I got to the square, I was ashamed at being afraid. It was a love-in. Muslims, Christians and Jews were very publicly hugging each other. Parents with many small children were happily wandering around, completely at ease. Military people and police officers were chatting with the demonstrators. I don’t even want to call them demonstrators. They were celebrators. Everyone there was celebrating the Arab Spring coming to Egypt. Mubarek was in jail, and they were free.

It came at a cost. The cost of many lives — lives of people not afraid to go to Tahrir Square even though there was a strong possibility they would die. And many did.

The crackdown and killing of peacefully protesting Islamists (I’m not talking about violent protesters here) will only radicalize them. More and more will turn to the crazy side, like the al-Qaida fanatics. In fact, al-Qaida is using the madness in Egypt to recruit more members. Killing only begets more killing. And if al-Qaida can tell someone the bullets that killed a family member were paid for by the United States, selling the U.S. as “the Great Satan” is easier.

When I look at Israel and the way it treats the Palestinians, I can see a never-ending cycle. Perhaps the one lesson Israel’s leaders should have learned from thousands of years of oppression that has forged them into such a fiercely intellectual and resourceful people, is not to oppress people. And they have not learned it. Nor have the current leaders of Egypt.

“Egypt is done,” a friend told me the other day. “There will never be peace there.”

But one might have said that about the United States during the Civil War. Think about it. Ninety years after America shook off the shackles of English rule, this country was at war with itself. Hundreds of thousands of people died, exponentially more than have died during the troubles in Egypt. If the Civil War were to take place today, with today’s weapons, how many more would die? The weapons of today can kill so much more efficiently.

As I write this, there is speculation about the U.S. suspending military aid to Egypt. The government is saying it has not suspended aid, but some political insiders say it has. Apparently the next installment is some $585 million. Will that check be sent?

I hate to think that military aid from a country that is relatively free, and knows what it’s like to fight and die for that freedom, would end up providing modern weapons to kill or enslave Mustafa, or the cheek-kissing little girl and her brother, or those young people working for peace in North Africa, or the celebrants in Tahrir Square. Or anyone, anywhere.

In 1987, celebrating the 750th anniversary of Berlin, U.S. President Ronald Reagan waved at the Berlin Wall and called out to Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev. “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” The wall came down a few years later.

I am no Ronald Reagan, and I’m sure many people will write in assuring me that I am indeed no Ronald Reagan. But today I would like to call out to Barack Obama: “Mr. Obama, tear up that check.”

<p>Egypt is exploding. More than a thousand people have been killed and thousands imprisoned in past weeks, and now it seems, ironically, that former strongman Hosni Mubarek, who ruled the country for 30 years, will be released from prison.</p><p>My heart weeps for the Egyptian people, as I have spent a lot of time there and have many, many Egyptian friends.</p><p>I remember a young boy named Mustafa helping me pick up trash, his smile wide enough to break your heart. The revolution was only a few months old, and he was celebrating being in a newly freed country by cleaning it up.</p><p>The North African Youth for Peace Conference was across the street, and upon seeing the two of us, I was asked to speak at the conference. I relished the idea of speaking to these bright young people from all over North Africa. They were determined to set their respective countries on a course of peace and democracy. And they were very optimistic.</p><p>The next day, two young children, a boy and a girl about 5 years old, helped me in my work. When we were finished, I asked them their names. “Ahmed,” said the boy. But I couldn't hear what the girl said, so I leaned forward and asked again, tilting my right ear toward her so I could hear better. She quickly sprang up and kissed me on the cheek and then ran away. A woman in a nearby car, witness to the scene, laughed at the surprised look on my face. That kiss is one of my most cherished memories.</p><p>I was invited to go to Tahrir Square for a demonstration and was afraid to go. I was a foreigner, and mere months before thousands of people were killed there. Would I be killed?</p><p>When I got to the square, I was ashamed at being afraid. It was a love-in. Muslims, Christians and Jews were very publicly hugging each other. Parents with many small children were happily wandering around, completely at ease. Military people and police officers were chatting with the demonstrators. I don't even want to call them demonstrators. They were celebrators. Everyone there was celebrating the Arab Spring coming to Egypt. Mubarek was in jail, and they were free.</p><p>It came at a cost. The cost of many lives — lives of people not afraid to go to Tahrir Square even though there was a strong possibility they would die. And many did.</p><p>The crackdown and killing of peacefully protesting Islamists (I'm not talking about violent protesters here) will only radicalize them. More and more will turn to the crazy side, like the al-Qaida fanatics. In fact, al-Qaida is using the madness in Egypt to recruit more members. Killing only begets more killing. And if al-Qaida can tell someone the bullets that killed a family member were paid for by the United States, selling the U.S. as “the Great Satan” is easier.</p><p>When I look at Israel and the way it treats the Palestinians, I can see a never-ending cycle. Perhaps the one lesson Israel's leaders should have learned from thousands of years of oppression that has forged them into such a fiercely intellectual and resourceful people, is not to oppress people. And they have not learned it. Nor have the current leaders of Egypt.</p><p>“Egypt is done,” a friend told me the other day. “There will never be peace there.”</p><p>But one might have said that about the United States during the Civil War. Think about it. Ninety years after America shook off the shackles of English rule, this country was at war with itself. Hundreds of thousands of people died, exponentially more than have died during the troubles in Egypt. If the Civil War were to take place today, with today's weapons, how many more would die? The weapons of today can kill so much more efficiently.</p><p>As I write this, there is speculation about the U.S. suspending military aid to Egypt. The government is saying it has not suspended aid, but some political insiders say it has. Apparently the next installment is some $585 million. Will that check be sent?</p><p>I hate to think that military aid from a country that is relatively free, and knows what it's like to fight and die for that freedom, would end up providing modern weapons to kill or enslave Mustafa, or the cheek-kissing little girl and her brother, or those young people working for peace in North Africa, or the celebrants in Tahrir Square. Or anyone, anywhere.</p><p>In 1987, celebrating the 750th anniversary of Berlin, U.S. President Ronald Reagan waved at the Berlin Wall and called out to Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev. “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” The wall came down a few years later.</p><p>I am no Ronald Reagan, and I'm sure many people will write in assuring me that I am indeed no Ronald Reagan. But today I would like to call out to Barack Obama: “Mr. Obama, tear up that check.”</p>